Me thinking really hard about which albums to list*.

This is a little different than my standard fare here on Lyrical Venus, but there was a meme going around on Facebook that kind of surprised me when I filled it out and I thought it would be fun to share here since it’s musically related.   Plus this is close to the kind of question I ask the people interview on my radio show, and I’m always afraid someone is going to ask me back and I’ll have a stumbling, “uh, erm, uh, well, good question!  I’ll have to get back to you!” answer like the time Cory (the DJ who comes on the air after me) asked me what MY favorite sandwich was after hearing the tail end of one of my interviews!  So now I’m a little more prepared for a question like this.   I’ll paste it with the instructions included and links if you want to check them out on iTunes where available:

Think of 15 albums, CDs, LPs, cassettes, whatever, that had such a profound effect on you they changed your life. Dig into your soul. Music that brought you to life when you heard it. Royally affected you, kicked you in the wazoo, literally socked you in the gut, is what I mean. Then when you finish, tag 15 others, including me. Make sure you copy and paste this part so they know the drill. Get the idea now? Good. Tag, you’re it!

1. Alanis Morissette – Jagged Little Pill

2. No Doubt – Tragic Kingdom

3. Green Day – Dookie

4. Weezer – Weezer (The Blue Album)

5. John Mayer – Room for Squares

6. Avril Lavigne – Let Go

7. Madonna – The Immaculate Collection

8. Sarah McLachlan – Mirrorball

9. The Beatles – The Beatles / 1967-1970 ‘The Blue Album’ (I listened to this on on vinyl!)

10. Ingrid Michaelson – Girls and Boys

11. Dar Williams – The Green World

12. R.E.M. – Out of Time

13. Rachel Ries – For You Only

14. Collective Soul – Disciplined Breakdown

15. Live – Throwing Copper

This was a rather interesting exercise in finding out which albums, some from 15 or more years ago, will still bubble up to the front of my consciousness when asked “What has made a big impression on me musically?” These were the ones that came back to me with the least amount of effort and digging, which makes me inclined to believe they left a deep mark.  Some of them I mostly just had an album cover or a snatch of a lyric and I had to Google to remember the album name!   They’re definitely not in any particular order like chronological or most influential or anything like that.

I could probably come up with a bunch of others that would seem more worthy for a list like this. I’m not entirely sure all these albums literally changed my life, but I would still stand by these ones as being formative for me in one way or another, opening my eyes to new possibilities in musical and emotional expression.  A large percentage of them I discovered through my childhood best friend. I’m guessing we might have similar lists if we only pulled from the early 90′s and totally different lists if we were restricted to the last 8-10 years.

Even if I don’t listen to a lot of them them anymore, at the time I discovered them, whether it was days, weeks, months or years after they were released, these were the albums I had on repeat for for days, weeks and months afterward.  They were the CD’s I made sure where in my carry cases. With the more recent releases, these were the mp3s I made sure were on my iPod.

I also find it interesting that the feelings and memories were generally so strongly intertwined with the album covers/packaging, as well as music videos, and wonder if in the digital age people will lose that association of music to visual, and if so, does that make the music less memorable 10+ years down the line when trying to recall it?  There really is something to be said for holding an object in your hand, but I suppose website design could become the new album art.  It’s not uncommon for an artist to change their website with each new release though, so does that mean the archive of the previous albums are lost?

If you read this and want to join in, consider yourself tagged!  Leave your list (or a link to your list on your own site) in the comments!

*OK, I took that picture a while ago for something else, but I bet I looked a lot like that when I was thinking about which albums to list!

So I’m a few days behind with the whole 2007 retrospective thing people are doing with their blogs, but considering that December was so crazy for me that I only decorated my Christmas tree 2 days AFTER Christmas, I think I’m doing pretty good with trying to catch up to life in general. *grin* So without further ado, here are some highlights of my first 9 months with this blog.

My Top 10 Listened to Artists, since May, according to Last.fm (not counting iPod and work listens). Pretty much all these folks either had new albums or were a new discovery for me in 2007. Links to the entries I wrote about them if applicable. And for the few I didn’t write about yet, shame on me, but the real reason is I like them so much I want to make sure and do it right and I haven’t had time quite yet.

1. Ingrid Michaelson
2. Rachel Ries
3. Dar Williams
4. Mandy Moore
5. Colbie Caillat
6. Lori McKenna
7. Jasmine Ash
8. Girlyman
9. Adrianne
10. Wendy Woo

I need to add Anais Mitchell in here, because her album came out in February before I started with Last.fm and she’s one of my top played artists on iTunes.

(And yes, yes, if you go check out my Last.fm stats right now, that IS Enrique sitting at spot number 11. He makes me happy. And I listen to the Spanish versions to practice my Spanish, seriously…)

Top 9 Visited Posts of Dec 2007, according to Feedburner, which should be pretty indicative of the year:
1. Cuckoo for CoCo: Colbie Caillat’s Debut Album
2. Looking for Mandy Moore Umbrella Chords? Quick Tip!
3. Umbrella Craze Continues… Marié Digby Has One Too!
4. Chords for Keep Breathing by Ingrid Michaelson
5. I Can’t Stop Listening To: Mandy Moore’s “Wild Hope”
6. Mandy Moore Borrows Rihanna’s Umbrella
7. Ingrid Michaelson’s “The Way I Am” On TV!
8. Feist’s 1234 on the iPod Nano Commercial
9. Too Much Music? Keep Breathing! (or, Ingrid Michaelson Rocks!)

My top 8 personal favorite entries that didn’t make the list above, in no particular order:
1. Absolutely Inspired By Ani DiFranco’s Canon
2. Dar Williams: One of the Most Inspiring Singers I Know
3. 10 Questions with Leslie Berry
4. Wendy Waldman, Wonder Woman!
5. MoZella – You Won’t Forget Her!
6. Broccoli and Beats: The Ditty Bops Farm Tour
7. Adrina Thorpe – A Whole Latte Musical Inspiration!
8. Traveling with Ember and Imogen

Last but not least, links to the blogs of people who left me comments, or who were kind enough to link to me on their blogs, in no particular order. Frank and Jana get the “most comments” prizes (Thanks ya’ll!!). If I missed someone let me know and I’ll link you up ASAP!

Braintracings
Living in Small Sizes
Jana Pochop
Almost Somewhat Positive
Piper of Love
Frank Gualtier
Bunch of Bettys
The Butterfly Blog
Moomin Light
Hugging the Midline
Compulsive Writer

Thanks everyone who has been reading! I hope you’ll stick with me for more great music to come in 2008!

Subscribe to Lyrical Venus by Email or by RSS Feed and have the updates come straight to you.

One more quick link before bed!

Check out spinner.com’s list of 10 Women Who Rock Right Now.

I don’t even know who a bunch of these women are. hmmmmm.

Just found this cool list on Amazon of Dar’s top picks for albums she thinks her fans might enjoy. There’s a wide variety of artists included, some I know and some I don’t: Don McLean, Judy Collins, Joan Baez, the Beatles, Joni Mitchell, Kate Bush, Jane Siberry, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Brahms, Suzanne Vega, Cheryl Wheeler. Dar gives a line or two about why the particular album she is highlighting was inspirational to her music or career or childhood. Seems like pretty much every female folk artist is going to be influenced at least at little by Joni Mitchell, and for good reason, (I remember the first time I heard Joni Mitchell I almost gave up the idea of writing songs altogether. Here’s someone who already said everything I’ve ever felt and so much of it before I was even born! What’s left?) but it’s kinda neat to have Brahms thrown in there too.

I always love finding out the influences of my favorite artists. It just goes to show that no one creates in a vacuum, and quite often I’ll discover some new favorite musicians!